GreenWay recognised

Friday, 23 November 2018

Council’s GreenWay Program has won the Planning Institute of Australia 2018 ‘Hard Won Victory’ Commendation Award for implementing the 5.8km urban green corridor in Sydney’s Inner West known as ‘The Cooks River to Iron Cove Greenway’, in partnership with community stakeholders.

The GreenWay is a 5.8km urban green corridor in Sydney’s Inner West, linking the Parramatta River at Iron Cove to the Cooks River at Earlwood. It contains a network of footpaths, cycleways, parks, play grounds, ovals, bush care sites, public art, community facilities, Hawthorne Canal and the Inner West Light Rail.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne welcomed the award’s recognition for the perseverance behind the project following last night’s ceremony.

“This unique level of community and council leadership and collaboration is one of the principle reasons why the GreenWay Vision has endured for 20 years, despite many set-backs and continues to evolve in response to social, political and economic challenges.

“This major planning award is testament to the passion, effort and commitment of everyone involved and their capacity to overcome many challenges along the way,” Mayor Byrne said.

“Once completed, the GreenWay will enhance the capacity of the Inner West community to be resilient and withstand some of the local impacts of climate change and urban warming in the 21st century.”

The Inner West community developed the Vision for the GreenWay in the late 1990s and developed the first GreenWay Masterplan and Coordination Strategy, adopted by four Councils (Leichhardt, Ashfield, Marrickville and Canterbury Councils) in 2009.

Inner West Council this year adopted a comprehensive, revised GreenWay Master Plan: Cooks to Cove, marking another major milestone for the project.

The 2018 master plan proposes $57.8m of works over the next 10 to 15 years, to create a unique, vibrant integrated ecological, active transport, recreational and cultural corridor through the heart of Sydney’s Inner West.

The new master plan follows the 2017 announcement by NSW and local government (Inner West and Canterbury Bankstown Councils) of $24 million in funding to construct the 3.2 km southern section of the GreenWay Trail, from Parramatta Road to the Cooks River. The shared path and associated landscaping and public art works are scheduled for completion in 2021.

The GreenWay is also the number one priority Green Grid project in the Eastern City District Plan published by the Greater Sydney Commission in early 2018.